Post offices close, delivery suspended due to snow

Published: Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 3:41 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 3:41 p.m.

“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” So says the unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service.

Local postal carriers lived up to that creed Wednesday, completing most of their deliveries despite deepening snowdrifts along roads and treacherous driving conditions. Thursday, however, was another matter.

For the first time in the recollection of many local carriers, the U.S. Postal Service suspended delivery Thursday in zip code areas beginning with 287, 288 and 289. That included all of Transylvania, Henderson and Polk counties.

Retail operations at all post offices in those zip codes - including those in Horse Shoe, Hendersonville, Brevard, Zirconia, Saluda and Fletcher - also were closed at noon or 1 p.m. Thursday. Residents could still access their P.O. boxes inside.

Jack Knight, a customer service supervisor at Brevard’s post office, has worked 40 years for the Postal Service, the last 12 in Western North Carolina. He can’t recall the last time delivery service was totally suspended due to snow or icy roads.

“Back in 2011, we had some bad weather, but we were able to make some deliveries,” Knight said. “I’ve never seen it hit so hard in a 48-hour period the way it did. And there were towns in South Carolina that got from a quarter-inch to half an inch of ice.”

Even if they were able to deliver, Knight said, many of the businesses in town “were shut down anyway. I’d say 90 percent of the shops on Main Street are closed down.”

Despite deteriorating conditions, carriers were able to complete about 85 percent of their deliveries Wednesday, Knight estimated. Postal employees hit the streets at 8 a.m. to try and get the mail in boxes before roads grew impassable.

“There were several routes toward Cedar Mountain and Pisgah Forest that had very limited delivery because of snow and ice conditions,” he said, adding deliveries will likely resume Friday as long as carriers can get to boxes without jeopardizing their safety.

“I’m sure they’ll be some shady sides where they didn’t get scraped,” Knight said.

He added that the post office received limited deliveries Wednesday from processing centers in Charlotte and Greenville due to the storm. More letter mail and parcels came in by truck Thursday, but much of the 3rd Class “so-called junk mail” got backed up in Charlotte, he said.

All but about 5 percent of the 4,000 customers in Horse Shoe and Mills River got mail Wednesday because carriers also hit the roads early to beat the worst of the winter storm. But Thursday was just “too dangerous,” according to a postal official who did not want to be named.

“We can only replace stuff,” he said. “We can’t replace people. I’ve been riding the roads this morning and it’s deadly out there.”

The Postal Service will assess conditions Friday morning and decide which routes are capable of supporting delivery, said Monica Coachman, a corporate spokesperson for the Postal Service’s mid-Carolinas District.

“Tomorrow, it’s our intent to open all post offices in those zip codes,” Coachman said, referring to retail operations. “But we have to put the safety of our employees first.”

Postal customers can help by clearing mounds of snow and patches of ice in front of roadside mailboxes - including those left by snow plows - and maintaining clear paths to homes, she said, including steps, porches and walkways.

Coachman said all of the Postal Service’s processing facilities were “open and operational” during Wednesday’s storm, but she pointed out that many sources of incoming mail were affected by the wide breadth of the storm.

“The snow affected South Carolina, Georgia, parts of Texas and Louisiana,” she said. “It’s not just mail in North Carolina, but mail coming from all those places. We’re working on the same highways and byways that regular individuals use, so (Postal Service drivers) encountered the same hazardous conditions.”

<p>“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” So says the unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service.</p><p>Local postal carriers lived up to that creed Wednesday, completing most of their deliveries despite deepening snowdrifts along roads and treacherous driving conditions. Thursday, however, was another matter.</p><p>For the first time in the recollection of many local carriers, the U.S. Postal Service suspended delivery Thursday in zip code areas beginning with 287, 288 and 289. That included all of Transylvania, Henderson and Polk counties.</p><p>Retail operations at all post offices in those zip codes - including those in Horse Shoe, Hendersonville, Brevard, Zirconia, Saluda and Fletcher - also were closed at noon or 1 p.m. Thursday. Residents could still access their P.O. boxes inside.</p><p>Jack Knight, a customer service supervisor at Brevard's post office, has worked 40 years for the Postal Service, the last 12 in Western North Carolina. He can't recall the last time delivery service was totally suspended due to snow or icy roads.</p><p>“Back in 2011, we had some bad weather, but we were able to make some deliveries,” Knight said. “I've never seen it hit so hard in a 48-hour period the way it did. And there were towns in South Carolina that got from a quarter-inch to half an inch of ice.”</p><p>Even if they were able to deliver, Knight said, many of the businesses in town “were shut down anyway. I'd say 90 percent of the shops on Main Street are closed down.”</p><p>Despite deteriorating conditions, carriers were able to complete about 85 percent of their deliveries Wednesday, Knight estimated. Postal employees hit the streets at 8 a.m. to try and get the mail in boxes before roads grew impassable.</p><p>“There were several routes toward Cedar Mountain and Pisgah Forest that had very limited delivery because of snow and ice conditions,” he said, adding deliveries will likely resume Friday as long as carriers can get to boxes without jeopardizing their safety.</p><p>“I'm sure they'll be some shady sides where they didn't get scraped,” Knight said. </p><p>He added that the post office received limited deliveries Wednesday from processing centers in Charlotte and Greenville due to the storm. More letter mail and parcels came in by truck Thursday, but much of the 3rd Class “so-called junk mail” got backed up in Charlotte, he said.</p><p>All but about 5 percent of the 4,000 customers in Horse Shoe and Mills River got mail Wednesday because carriers also hit the roads early to beat the worst of the winter storm. But Thursday was just “too dangerous,” according to a postal official who did not want to be named.</p><p>“We can only replace stuff,” he said. “We can't replace people. I've been riding the roads this morning and it's deadly out there.”</p><p>The Postal Service will assess conditions Friday morning and decide which routes are capable of supporting delivery, said Monica Coachman, a corporate spokesperson for the Postal Service's mid-Carolinas District.</p><p>“Tomorrow, it's our intent to open all post offices in those zip codes,” Coachman said, referring to retail operations. “But we have to put the safety of our employees first.”</p><p>Postal customers can help by clearing mounds of snow and patches of ice in front of roadside mailboxes - including those left by snow plows - and maintaining clear paths to homes, she said, including steps, porches and walkways.</p><p>Coachman said all of the Postal Service's processing facilities were “open and operational” during Wednesday's storm, but she pointed out that many sources of incoming mail were affected by the wide breadth of the storm. </p><p>“The snow affected South Carolina, Georgia, parts of Texas and Louisiana,” she said. “It's not just mail in North Carolina, but mail coming from all those places. We're working on the same highways and byways that regular individuals use, so (Postal Service drivers) encountered the same hazardous conditions.”</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>